Review: Superman: Action Comics Vol. 5: The House of Kent trade paperback (DC Comics)

I am going to miss Brian Michael Bendis on the Superman titles. I’m not saying Superman: Action Comics Vol. 5: The House of Kent isn’t a little strange, and to be sure there’s a creative choice or two here I don’t agree with. But as with Superman Vol. 4: Mythological, Bendis' final volume on that title, I come away once again with the feeling of Bendis having great affection for this character, and moreover, for his extended family, something that’s been a question among some quarters during Bendis' run. Solely what this book sets its primary sights on, not one but two Superboys, ought tell you most of what you need to know about Bendis and what he sees as the heart of the Super-books.

[Review contains spoilers]

It’s called “The House of Kent” but this book might as well be “A Tale of Two Superboys.” Before Action Comics Vol. 5 gets down to the last hurrah of Metropolis' Invisible Mafia, it’s the story of Superman and guest-star Superboy Jon Kent trying to help other guest-star Superboy Conner Kent figure out why no one remembers him (short of, in a beautiful scene, Ma and Pa Kent, and also Krypto). And despite Red Cloud and the Uber Parasite and the FBI raiding the Daily Planet, a lot of what’s underlying the characters' actions is Conner trying to prove himself and the rest of the Super-family getting to know him, and Bendis makes sure to tuck him away safely before the end.

But lest Bendis ignore Jon, something that’s more than once been accused, the climax of Bendis' final Action Comics issue is all about Clark spending quality time with Jon. It’s unusual, but maybe apt, because Bendis' Superman has generally been the Jon-focused book (at times) and Bendis' Action been the Lois-focused book, but in the conclusions, they switched. But given that Superman Vol. 4: Mythological was about Clark and Lois, the Action conclusion had a few other options; I might’ve cried foul too had Bendis continued with Conner all the way through, but clearly this was a writer who remembered where this story started and where it needed to end.

[See the latest DC trade solicitations.]

Among comics' forever unanswerable questions is whether a run ended as its writer intended, if any writer ever gets the room to do everything they wanted to do. I would say — hardly for the first time for a run — Bendis' Invisible Mafia story started better than it ended. For what seemed at one point a real detailed look at the power behind the power in Metropolis' underworld, that it basically comes down to Leone and Robinson “Red Cloud” Goode unleashing an “Uber Parasite” on the Super-family while Leone beats feet out of Metropolis (and our earthly dimension!) felt anticlimactic, not to mention no real examination of where Superman let his guard down or how he might prevent an “invisible mafia” from springing up again. And poor Agent Chase and the FBI come off ridiculous here, essentially letting Leone escape when she points across the room, says “Look at Lois Lane!” and then runs out the door.

What a twist, however, that Leone is from Earth 3! As I’ve mentioned before, I think Bendis was trying to (or is still trying to?) do something with the famously bad-is-good Earth 3, given that it’s shown up in his Superman, Young Justice, and now the startling revelation of his Action Comics conclusion. I am sure I’m reading too much into it, but given the end of this book just before “Future State” and the fallout from Dark Nights: Death Metal, “House of Kent” feels like it’s hinting at elements from that book, what with Conner trying to figure out his place in the multiverse and Leone hailing from another Earth, not to mention Leone accusing Lois of herself coming from another Earth and this concept not seeming so foreign that the FBI doesn’t take Lois into custody about it.

In my review of Action Comics Vol. 4: Metropolis Burning, I commented on the nice scene in which Clark reveals his secret to friend, fire chief, and mayoral candidate Melody Moore a day earlier than he does to the rest of the world. Melody was an interesting addition to the cast around the time Superman was being accused of mysterious arsons, though she wasn’t involved in many storylines after and it felt like Bendis forgot about her, which is why the Burning scene was good.

But Melody gets no more than a page here before she’s killed off by Red Cloud just to hurt Superman. So, after more than two years worth of stories, and debuting even in Bendis' Man of Steel miniseries, the whole point of Melody Moore (female, mind you) is to die so that Superman can feel badly about it — badly enough to sob about it in the third chapter, though not badly enough that Melody gets more than a passing reference in the rest of the story. That feels like sloppy writing, of the kind one would think Bendis would know better.

Artist John Romita is in the difficult position of drawing five or more flying characters on a page throughout this story, when flying characters are not his forte, all stiff-armed and bent awkwardly at the waist. Still, I continue to love the energetic gusto that Romita pours on to every page, and for every fight scene drawn like the characters are going to get targeting calls, there’s some beautiful back and forth conversation at the Daily Planet or in the hallways of the FBI that give Romita a true chance to shine.

2.75

Rating

Superman: Action Comics Vol. 5: The House of Kent is the controversial end to a long story (not, y’know, Rebirth Flash long, but long). I’m not sure the Invisible Mafia storyline quite wraps up well (nor at what point here, or was it in a previous volume, that Leone decided to cut loose Red Cloud?), nor does Brian Michael Bendis acquit himself well with his own creation Melody Moore. But over the course of it all, Bendis actually convinced me that Superman revealing his secret identity was a good idea, something I never thought I’d go for, and when I see this book’s stellar Gary Frank variant cover of Superman, Supergirl, Superboy Jon Kent, and Superboy Conner Kent all together, that’s a wonderful thing I’ve got to credit Bendis with, too. Sorry this run didn’t go on longer; can’t help wonder how it might’ve been different.

[Includes original and variant covers, character sketch]